Russia Ukraine War February 28 Live News: In a dramatic set of events, Belarus is set to send its forces alongside Russian troops, as part of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The Washington Post quotes a US Security official saying that Belarus troops could invade Ukraine borders by Monday. This comes a day after the Belarus authorities voted to clear its non-nuclear status. This means that now Belarus can host nuclear weapons. This is a significant decision as Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the nuclear forces on high alert.

Meanwhile, Monday markets have brought bad news for Moscow. Latest trade reports show that Russia ruble plunged as much as 30 per cent against dollar today. In other financial update related to the crisis, the European Central Bank says that the European subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank is ‘failing or likely to fail’.

India, along with China and UAE abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council to call for a rare General Assembly session on Russia and Ukraine’s conflict, reported PTI. The resolution was adopted with 11 votes in favour, with Russia voting against it. “It is regrettable that the situation in Ukraine has worsened further since the Council last convened on this matter,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said in the explanation of Sunday’s vote, as per a PTI report. “There is no other choice but to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue,” he further added. India, China and the UAE abstained from the resolution on Friday too, while 11 members of the Council voted in favour.

On the evacuation front, Operation Ganga’s fifth flight departed from Bucharest (Romania) and landed in Delhi earlier this morning. The flight carried 249 Indian nationals, reported news agency ANI.

Sanket Patil, hailing from Dombivli here in Maharashtra, was excited after getting admission in a Ukraine-based university for a medical course, but his happiness was short-lived as the east European country faced an attack by Russia minutes after he stepped into the educational institution's hostel on February 24. The 23-year-old student is now confined to the hostel there and is staring at an uncertain future.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday welcomed 27 students hailing from the state who reached Gandhinagar in a bus from Delhi where they had landed after evacuation from Ukraine by a special flight. In the last two days, around 100 students studying in war-torn Ukraine have reached their home state Gujarat from Mumbai and Delhi

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog says missiles have hit a radioactive waste disposal site in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, but there are no reports of damage to the buildings or indications of a release of radioactive material. In a statement late Sunday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi says Ukrainian authorities informed his office about the overnight strike. He says his agency expects to soon receive the results of on-site radioactive monitoring. The report came a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was damaged.

An emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held today at 10 am (New York time). Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly will preside over the Session. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order forbidding her state from doing business with Russia, including cancelling its investments there. The governor also said New York will welcome Ukrainian refugees in response to Russia's invasion, noting at a press conference in Albany on Sunday that her state is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the U.S. “We have said we'll open up our hearts, our homes, our resources to the people of the Ukraine, to say, We stand with you,” Hochul said. Federal estimates show that around 1,40,000 of the more than 1 million people in the U.S. who report Ukrainian ancestry live in New York. “If you need a place to stay, you want to come over here, we will help you become integrated into our community,” she said, “as we have been open so to so many other refugees in the past, including those from Afghanistan most recently.” Hochul didn't immediately get into specifics regarding her state's economic sanctions against Moscow — including how much the state has invested in Russian entities — but pointed out that New York's economy is larger than that of Russia. The governor's executive order means the state “will not permit its own investment activity, whether directly or indirectly, to aid Russia as it commits these human rights violations and atrocities.” Ukraine filed a case at the United Nations' highest court accusing Russia of planning genocide. 

An Austria-based subsidiary of Russia's state-owned Sberbank has been ruled likely to fail after depositors fled due to the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The European Central Bank said early Monday that the bank had 13.6 billion euros in assets at the end of last year, but has experienced “significant deposit outflows” due to “geopolitical tensions.” The ECB said Vienna-headquartered Sberbank Europe AG “is likely to be unable to pay its debts or other liabilities as they fall due.” The bank is a fully owned subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank, whose majority shareholder is the Russian government.